Sign frame



y 1964 o. w. PETRIE 3,132,431

SIGN FRAME Filed May 3, 1961 INVENTOR' 0804/? W. P5 7' ATTORNEY United States PatentOfiice 3,132,431 Patented May 1 2, 1964 3,132,431 SIGN FRAME Oscar W. Petrie, 5537 Fair-wood Road, Cincinnati 24, Ohio Filed May 3,1961, Ser. No. 107,432 1 Claim. (Cl. 40--125) The present invention relates to an advertising sign within a frame.

An object of the invention is to provide in an advertising sign structure or the like, simple and inexpensive means for applying a panel to a supporting frame, and securely though detachably retaining the panel therein against accidental displacement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame and panel structure which may be inexpensively produced, and assembled with extraordinary ease and dispatch, so that the structure may be located and placed at a selected site without undue delay and laborious effort.

A further object is to provide a device of the character stated which is structurally strong, pleasing in appearance, and capable of reuse in different environments with a change of panels whenever desired. 1

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described herein and illustrated upon the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the invention, showinga panel in process of application.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective cross-section on an enlarged scale, taken through the frame on line AA of FIG. 1, the sign panel being omitted. 7

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line BB of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, fication.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view partly in crosssection, showing the modified structure of FIG. 4.

The device of the invention is subjectto various uses, including performance as an advertising sign, bulletin board, marker, direction indicator, and the like. When used as an advertising sign, the panel 8 may carry suitable lettering, symbols, or illustrations painted or otherwise applied to one or both of its plane faces 10 and 12 to be exhibited or exposed to view. The panel 8 may be of any suitable material having slight flexibility for limited bending, examples of such material being sheet metal, plywood, composition pressed board, paper board, and the like, depending upon the service and exposure requirements. The panel illustrated herein by way of example is rectangular and of uniform thickness, with substantially parallel side edges 14 and 16.

Panel 8 is adapted for support within a circumferential frame constructed preferably of metal angle stock, the legs of the angle material being indicated at 18 and 20, and arranged at right angles to one another. In the preferred construction, a single length of angle stock is bent to substantial inverted U-shape, providing upper corners 22 and 24, and lower spiked or pointed terminal ends 26 and 28 arranged in spaced substantial parallelism. The spiked ends may be pushed or driven into the earth for holding the sign structure in upright position.

At a distance from the spiked ends of the angle member uprights or side members 30 and 32, a reinforcing cross member 34 may be applied thereto by welding or otherwise at the ends 36, to serve as a stop for limiting the extent to which the spiked ends 26 and 28 may be driven into the earth. The ends of the cross member may be conveniently welded to the legs of both uprights 30 and 32, thereby providing a rigid and durable frame structure. The cross member by preference is parallel to the header 38 at the top of the frame, and may serve showing a modias a step upon which'the weight of a for driving the spikes into the earth.

Intermediate the header 38 and the cross member 34 is fixed a transverse sill 40 upon which the lower edge 42 of panel 8 may rest, the sill being formed preferably of angle iron stock having opposite ends 44 and 46 welded to the legs of uprights 30 and 32 at equal distances above cross member 34. Leg 48 of the sill member abuts the inner faces 20 of the uprights 30 and 32, whereas the leg 50 thereof parallels the horizontal top leg 52 of the header. The confining legs of the header, the sill, and the uprights thereby form a well to receive panel 8, with one face of the panel resting against those legs of the frame which are coplanar.

In order to preclude lateral displacement of the panel from the well, a series of inwardly projecting stops or abutments 54 and 55 are provided in the legs 30 and 32 of the frame uprights, and preferably also in leg 50 of sill member 40, the stops or abutments being spaced from the coplanar legs of the frame parts a distance exceeding the panel thickness (FIG. 3). The distance measured between a stop of one upright member, and a correspondingly located stop of the other upright member, is to be less than the width of panel 8, to prevent lateral displacement of the panel. Also, the distance measured between the stops 54 of sill member 40 and the leg 52 of header 38 is to be less than the height of the panel, for the same purpose.

Referring first to guished from those man may be applied the stops or abutments 54, asdistinat 55, attention is directed to FIGS. 2 and 3 wherein it will be noted that stop 54 is produced by initially slitting the metal 58 and 60 at a distance from the free edge of theleg, and then deforming the strap thereby produced by stretching the metal inwardly in the direction of the plane of leg 20. This involves a simple and inexpensive forming die operation which is highly effective and instantaneous. All of the stops or abutments 54 may be readily formed in this manner.

The stops or abutments 55 are formed with a slight difference, in that the straps constituting them (FIGS. 4 and 5) are produced by initially cutting two parallel slits 62 and 64 within the width of leg 18, and then deforming the intervening metal by stretching it inwardly in the direction of the plane of leg 20. By this procedure, an opening is formed between the strap and the leg from which it was struck, to receive a hollow bushing or anchor member 66 firmly driven into the opening and adapted to accommodate a self-threading screw 68 as shown. FIGS. 4 and 5 clearly indicate how the screw may be advanced through the fixed bushing 66 to impinge upon and anchor the panel 8 against leg 20 of the adjacent angle member, to prevent displacement of the panel from the frame. a

If desired, the bushing or anchor member 66 may be omitted in the construction of FIGS. 4 and 5, in which event the threaded shank of a self-tapping screw or bolt would engage the adjacent faces of straps 55 and the leg from which it was struck.

It is to be understood that the frame may be provided with stops of the FIG. 4 type, either totally or partially, or if preferred, all the stops or abutments may be of the simpler type illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3 involving no locking means. In the example of FIG. 1, only two of the stops or abutments are of the locking type, as indicated at 55 at opposite sides of the frame, whereas the remaining stops 54 are of the non-locking type. The number and the arrangement of locking and non-locking stops or abutments employed may be considered a matter of choice or judgment, dependent upon the nature of the service required.

As FIG. 1 indicates, the panel 8 by slight bending may of leg 18 between the points be advanced downwardly past header 38, to slide between the coplanar legs of the frame and the several stops of abutments 54 and 55, until the lower edge of the panel rests upon the horizontal leg 50 of sill 40. When so advanced to the home position, the top edge 70 of the panel will flip forwardly against the depending vertical leg 72 of header 38, so that upward displacement of the panel is prevented by the horizontal leg 52 which overlies the panel top edge. The panel having been thusly positioned, and confined by the coplanar legs of the angle members 30, 32, 40 and 38, ma if desired, be locked in place by using the bushings 66 and screws 68 as previously explained.

In the event that the frame is to be supported otherwise than by driving its spiked ends 26 and 28 into the earth, the spiked ends and the stop bar 34 may be omitted from the structure whereupon sill 40 may constitute the lowermost element of the frame.

If desired, the bushings 66 may be internally prethreaded to receive a suitable locking screw. Also, the parts 30, 32, and 38, instead of being integral, may be assembled as separate pieces Welded or otherwise joined at their ends to form a panel-confining frame. Various other modifications and changes in the structural details of the device may be resorted to, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a sign structure, a frame to support a sign panel having upper, lower and side edges, said frame including spaced parallel uprights of angle stock, a header and a sill member of angle stock, the header joining top ends of said uprights and the sill joining the uprights below and in spaced parallel relation with the header, the header, sill and uprights forming a well for accommodating a sign panel, the said angle stock providing the header,

uprights and sill member each with a pair of legs disposed at right angles to one another, with corresponding legs thereof in a substantially common plane and having forwardly facing surfaces to support the panel along marginal portions of the upper, lower, and side edges thereof, the remaining legs projecting forwardly from said forwardly facing surfaces to extend across the panel edges, said remaining legs of the uprights each being slitted longitudinally to provide a strap and the strap being inwardly ofi'set from the material of the said remaining legs to form an abutment means lying in a plane lation with and spaced forwardly from said forwardly facing surfaces of the said corresponding legs to intercept forward displacement of a panel inserted between such abutment means and the said forwardly facing surfaces, an elongate threaded element, and means operatively supporting the threaded element between the said strap and the adjacent slitted leg for threaded reciprocation relative to the adjacent forwardly facing surface to engage an inserted panel for locking the panel against said forwardly facing surface of the adjacent said corresponding leg, the slitting of each of said remaining legs of the uprights being along adjacent parallel lines and the ma terial between said lines forming the said inwardly ofiset strap, and the said means operatively supporting said threaded element comprising an axially bored bushing secured between said strap and portions of the adjacent said remaining leg on both sides of said strap, the said bushing being directed toward but terminating short of the adjacent forwardly facing surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,581,981 Phelps Apr. 20, 1926 2,027,790 Schneider Ian. 14, 1936 2,872,750 Holcomb Feb. 15, 1959 in parallel re- 

